Friday, April 14, 2006

critters

The expression, "Chickens always come home to roost" is a universal truth. They always go back into their coop so all I need to do is close the door after they're in. I worked late last evening and heard the chickens in a panic. I ran out to notice that a little possum had taken up residence in the coop. Not good... I am a bad farmer.

Long story short, I got the chickens to a safe place and extricated the critter with a shovel and a garden hose. They're actually slow and seemingly tame. I got very close to the little bugger and it did *not* want to exit the coop. After much negotiating, it practically got onto the shovel blade where I air-lifted it slowly and gently out of the coop. It scurried off.

"C'mon chickens, all clear" I say and they needed to be lifted up and placed in the coop. I think they were pretty shaken up by the ordeal. I was lucky that the critter was a harmless young possum. If it had been a raccoon, the ending would have been different.

I'll be sure to close up the coop at sunset.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Charlie--For more 'possum fun, check out my friend Dan's podcast about his run-in with a similar critter. Go to www.thebitterestpill.com, scroll down to the archives in the right-hand column: October 2005, episode #53 "George the Junkyard Opposum." Click on the pill icon at #53 and enjoy! Be sure to get yerself somethin' from the Cafe first. The show's about 25 minutes long.